Qatar: 2022 World Cup hosts' Major Event Safety & Security Conference draws Interpol praise
Doha is the venue as the 2022 World Cup organisers host the first ever congress bringing together security experts from across the globe.
Interpol has praised the 1st Major Event Safety and Security Conference, which is being held in Doha, Qatar. The first congress to bring together security professionals from the world's leading countries to discuss the protection of major events, it was the idea of the 2022 World Cup's organising committee - who signed a deal with the international police organisation five years ago - and has culminated in the presence of more than 360 security experts from around 65 nations in the Qatari capital. Attended by Interpol secretary general Jürgen Stock and Hassan Al Thawadi, the secretary general of Qatar 2022's Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, the conference has gone down as a resounding success.
"Interpol thanks Qatar for hosting this first-of-its-kind conference for international police cooperation," Stock said in his address to the congress's attendees, underlining the opportunity it brings to "help member countries with policing and security arrangements at major sporting events", given that their vulnerability to possible attacks means that "securing such an event from criminal threats is a high priority for the host country". With Interpol visibly concerned about the threats recently made against the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it is seen as fundamental that police across the globe join forces to tackle such dangers.
Qatar's intention is that the conference be repeated annually, enabling the tournament organisers to guarantee the highest possible levels of security when the 2022 World Cup arrives. "Events such as the World Cup or the Olympics will not be safe and secure without an integrated, international network of law enforcement bodies working seamlessly together," said Al Thawadi, who views the creation of a completely secure and safe environment as one of the cornerstones of the organisers' work between now and the start of the Qatari World Cup.